Jose Gabriel “Pompee” M. La Viña

Jose Gabriel M. La Viña (born June 2, 1957) more commonly known as Pompee La Viña. is a Filipino, entrepreneur, composer, record producer, social media strategist, and government official. He is currently the Undersecretary for Agribusiness and Marketing of the Department of Agriculture (DA). La Viña is designated as Alternate Chair and Permanent Representative^[1] to the National Organic Agriculture Board (NOAB) and is the agency’s alternative representative to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council (MSMEDC).

La Viña was born in Cebu City and raised in Cagayan de Oro City. He is the first of the six children of lawyer and educator,Gabriel La Viña and former Cagayan de Oro councilor Lourdes Chaves Maestrado-La Viña. His mother is an advocate of local history and culture. At 88 years old, she was appointed as one of the Trustees of the National Museum of the Philippines during the Duterte Administration. La Viña comes from the Roa and Neri-Chaves Clans of Northern Mindanao.

Early Life and Education

La Viña went to Xavier University for his elementary and high school education and graduated Valedictorian of both his grade school and high school classes. Through an AFS scholarship, he received further education as an exchange student at Corona del Mar High School in California, USA. He later served as Trustee and Treasurer of AFS Intercultural Services Phils. from 2007 to 2011.

In 1981, he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the Ateneo de Manila University as full university scholar. He was also a scholar of the Insular Life Educational Foundation (ILEF). He served as editor-in-chief of The Guidon, the official university newspaper, and at the same time, chairperson of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) from 1979-1980.

He earned his Master in Entrepreneurship in 2006 from Asian Institute of Management where he received a distinction for Superior Performance. In February 2016, he was elected member of the Board of Directors of the Asian Institute of Management Alumni Association, a position he held for two years. He completed the Leaders in Development Program in June 2017, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Executive Education.

Music^[2]

After his college graduation, he returned to the United States and studied classical piano at the Peabody Institute. He later enrolled at the Dick Grove School of Music where he completed the Keyboard Instruction Program (KIP) and Composing & Arranging Program (CAP).

La Viña penned close to 100 songs. His compositions have been recorded by Filipino and international artists including Lea Salonga, Chad Borja, Joey Albert, Iza Calzado, Gino Padilla, Anna Fegi, Renz Verano, Jinky Llamanzares, Kaye Abad, Toti Fuentes, Raymond Lauchengco, Iwi Laurel, Tillie Moreno, Louie Reyes, Eugene Villaluz, Gian Moreno, Teresa Loyzaga, and others.

Two of his songs, “Falling in Love” and “Where Did the Heartaches Go” were finalists in the amateur division of the 7^th Metro Manila Popular Music Festival in 1984. The song "Falling in Love" interpreted by Louie Reyes and Eugene Villaluz bagged the third prize.His songs “Dear Angie” and “Daddy When You Come Home” received honorable mentions from the 10th International Billboard Songwriting Contest in 2002. “Daddy When You Come Home” was inspired by the crash of Cebu Pacific Flight 387 on its way to Cagayan de Oro that killed everyone on board. The city of Cagayan de Oro seems to be a constant in many of his songs. “If I Could Find A Way” is a song about first love and “the city that will always be first in my heart,” he says in a Facebook post. “Only You” captures his longing for his childhood home when he lived in the United States for a time. “Dear Angie” is set in his favorite beach in his hometown.

Other awards include Best Song, University of the Philippines Choral Festival, 1980 and Finalist, Chesapeake Regional Song Competition, Baltimore, Maryland, 1981. He received a Gold Record Award as producer for the Album "Malayo Pa Ang Umaga" by Dodong Cruz in 1998. A song he co-wrote with the late Toti Fuentes , “What Good is that Without You”, was featured in the youth-oriented Filipino movie Gimik: The Reunion

Entrepreneur

La Viña built his career on entrepreneurship. In the US, he established his first company, Mabuhay Trading Corp. that sold Original Pilipino Music (OPM) records to Filipino communities. He later took an interest in real estate and worked as a broker and eventually started his own home mortgage brokerage.

In the early 90’s La Viña returned to the Philippines and in 1995 founded his own record company, JML Records; the first local independent record company. It was licensed to a major record company, Star Records of ABS-CBN. The releases of JML Records were played in FM stations LA 105.9 and the now defunct NU 107. La Viña earned his first million as an entrepreneur from the 3-year license agreement. .After 5 years, JML Records suffered losses in sales as music piracy thrived. He has since been involved in various ventures across several industries including Hospitality, Real Estate, Cooperative Banking, Technology, Auto Sales and Supply Chain Management

Social media strategist

La Viña served as social media director for then Davao City Mayor Duterte’s Presidential campaign election. Social media played a key role during the 2016 presidential election as candidates took to Facebook and Twitter to reach out to the voters and grow their followers.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] Duterte won the presidency with more than 16 million votes.^[7]^[8]

After the presidential election, La Viña has since been invited to speak and lecture on social media to various organizations including the military.^[9]^[10]

Government official

In October 2016, La Viña was appointed as Commissioner at the Social Security Commission, the governing body of the the Social Security System. He was Chairman of both the Investment Oversight Committee and the Media and Public Affairs Committee of the Social Security Commission. He held the position until February 2018.^[11]

Two months after he left his post at SSS, La Viña was appointed to the Department of Tourism (DOT) as Undersecretary^[12]^[13]^[14] ^[15]where he served for six weeks. When the DOT Secretary Wanda Tulfo Teo resigned, she was replaced by Bernadette Romulo-Puyat as the new secretary. Romulo-Puyat was serving as undersecretary of DA at the time of her appointment. When she vacated her post, La Viña was appointed to replace her at DA.^[16]^[17] ^[18]

As undersecretary for Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS), his office promotes access to market information and development services. He has been promoting TienDA in different parts of the country, a farmers’ market concept introduced by DA.

Personal

La Viña has three children from his previous marriage, Lourdes Marie, Jose Gabriel Jr, and Miguel Antonio.

References[edit]

↑ "National Organic Agriculture Board". www.organic.da.gov.ph.
↑ https://www.facebook.com/pg/pompeelavina.musikero/posts/
↑ Buenaobra, Maria Isabel T. (April 27, 2016). "Social Media: A Game Changer in Philippine Elections". The Asia Foundation. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
↑ Paurom, D. Mangosing, F. and Corrales, N. (November 25, 2015). "Social media and the 2016 national elections". Inquirer.Net. Retrieved July 29, 2018.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Esteves, Patricia (May 13, 2016). "Social media changes landscape of Phl elections". The Philippine Star. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
↑ Occenola, Paige (May 11, 2016). "How did the presidential and VP candidates fare on social media?". Rappler. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
↑ "Rodrigo Duterte officially wins Philippines presidency". Aljazeera. May 27, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
↑ "Official count: Duterte is new president, Robredo is vice president". CNN Philippines. May 30, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
↑ Marquez, Mary Chol (July 15, 2016). "AFP Holds 3rd Social Media Summit". International Business Times. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
↑ Cantera, Angelo (October 4, 2016). "The President's social media guy explains the Duterte strategy". Entrepreneur Philippines. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
↑ Kabiling, Genalyn D. (February 13, 2018). "Duterte ends terms of 2 top SSS officials". Tempo. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
↑ Gavilan, Jodesz (April 30, 2018). "From SSS to Tourism: Who is Pompee La Viña". Rappler. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
↑ "Duterte appoints former SSS Commissioner to Tourism". CNN Philippines. April 25, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
↑ Parrocha, Azer (April 25, 2018). "Duterte appoints ex-SSS commissioner La Viña as tourism exec". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
↑ "Duterte appoints ex-SSS commissioner to DOT". ABS-CBN News. April 25, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
↑ Deala, Joanna Belle (June 7, 2018). "Duterte appoints DOT Usec Pompee La Viña to Agriculture department". Philippine Inquirer. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
↑ "La Viña named DA undersecretary". Manila Times. June 8, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
↑ Billions, Trishia (June 8, 2018). "The President's "termite": Duterte's ex-social media strategist gets 3rd gov't post". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved November 12, 2018.